Drink lids that visually warn a consumer when the cup&#39;s lid is ajar

ABSTRACT

Beverage cups and beverage lids that visibly warn a consumer when the cup&#39;s lid is ajar. This invention is especially beneficial for the safe consumption of scalding hot drinks such as coffee, tea and hot chocolate where spillage can cause serious burns to the face and body.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field

The field of the invention is for beverage cups. More particularly, the invention relates to beverage cups and beverage lids that visibly warn the consumer when the cup's lid is ajar. This invention is especially beneficial for the safe consumption of scalding hot drinks such as coffee, tea and hot chocolate where spillage can cause serious burns to the face and body.

2. Background

Many different cup and lid designs have been produced throughout the years to help prevent drink spillage.

The most common spill-prevention lid, for hot beverage consumption, is a thin plastic cap with a small opening to drink from. This thin plastic cap is snapped over the rim of a paper cup and people sip their hot beverage through the small opening. This typical plastic cap is quite spill-proof, so long as the lid is securely snapped over the rim of the cup. However, many times these typical plastic lids appear properly snapped on the cup, when in fact they are not.

Time and time again, you can witness customers taking a sip of their morning coffee, at the local coffee shop, only to have the unsecured lid leak beverage on their clothes, or worse yet, come off and scald them.

Cold beverages don't pose a health hazard; just one of mess and spillage. However, who wants cola or a chocolate milk shake dripping all down the front of their work clothes?

The lids for cold drinks are typically much flimsier than the lids for hot beverages and contain an opening for a straw. Again, if these soft drink lids are ajar, an overly full cup of soda or one held at a perpendicular angle, will drip out and spill on your clothes.

Luckily, as previously stated, cold drinks pose no health hazard to the consumer, only mess.

Many patents throughout the years have addressed the drink spillage issue. The following are all examples U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,549,044; 3,171,580; 3,730,399; 3,868,043; 3,938,695; 4,215,793; 4,428,498; 4,619,372; 4,767,019; 5,065,880; 7,100,790 and 7,168,589.

However, none of these patents disclose a means to visually warn an unsuspecting consumer when the cup's lid is ajar. As previously stated, many times the lids appear securely snapped to the rim, when in fact they are not.

The most extreme case, which made national news, concerned an elderly woman severely burned in her lap from the lid coming off her scalding coffee. The fast food chain, which provided the scalding coffee with the unsecured lid, had to pay out a substantial settlement to this woman because of her severe burns.

Fast food restaurants and coffee shops now subsequently warn their customers to be extremely careful by providing “CAUTION” warnings on both their hot beverage cups and lids. Most even warn in 3 different languages, so the scalding hazard is clearly understood.

Fast food restaurants and coffee shops, even go one step further, and currently serve their scalding beverages in an insulated sleeve to prevent the customer's hand from being burnt while holding the cup.

However, not one of these precautionary measures address the most obvious hazard, which is a loose lid coming off and burning a person's unprotected face and flesh at scalding temperatures.

Accordingly, a visual means to warn a consumer when the cup's lid is ajar would prevent the customer's skin from being jeopardized in the first place.

Applicants have designed simple color-coded drink lids and cup rim combinations that visually warn an unsuspecting consumer before a scalding accident or mess occurs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is the primary object of the present invention to provide drinking cups with lids that visually warn the consumer when the cup's lid is ajar.

This may be accomplished in several different ways.

One way is by providing a drink cup with a bright green-colored rim, for example.

The corresponding drink lid would contain the typical circular coupling channel which snaps over the cup's rim to secure it. However, in this case, the circular coupling channel in the drink lid would contain a translucent bright yellow hue throughout it.

In operation, when the lid to the drink cup and the corresponding rim of the cup are securely snapped together, a bright green circle will be visible, on the top of the drink lid. However, if the lid is slightly ajar, the lid portion that is unsecured will be yellow in color instead of green because the surfaces are not in direct contact with each other.

In other words, if the consumer sees any yellow in the circle on the drink lid, it is a “warning” that the lid is not completely attached and to secure it. If the consumer sees an fully green circle on the drink lid, this means it is safe to drink from the cup because the lid is securely attached.

Another variation, for a visual warning to avoid drink spillage is by providing color only to the rim of the drinking cup, a bold red, for example.

In this embodiment, the corresponding lid's coupling channel would be translucent. Accordingly, when the lid's circular coupling channel is securely snapped over the bold red rim of the cup, a red circle will be visible on the top of the drink lid. However, if the coupling channel is slightly ajar, the unsecured area will show as whitish or light pink because the opaqueness obscures the red rim unless it is in direct contact with it.

Again, when the lid is securely attached, it will be visible to the consumer as a red circle on the top of the drink lid.

Still another variation for a visual warning is a crosshatch band approximately 4 centimeters wide and located just under the rim of the beverage cup. This crosshatch band will be visible only when the lid is removed or ajar. Otherwise, the crosshatch pattern is completely covered by the lip of the beverage lid.

Still other variations for the inventive instrument will be disclosed in the following application.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF TILE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a preferred embodiment for a color-coded cup and lid design;

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a color-coded lid snapped over a color-coded beverage cup rim;

FIG. 3 is a variation for a cup design using a color-coded rim and a translucent coupling channel;

FIG. 4 shows the cup of FIG. 3 with the lid slightly ajar;

FIG. 5 is an alternate embodiment for a cup using a crosshatch warning band just under the rim of the cup;

FIG. 6 shows the cup of FIG. 5 with the lid slightly ajar;

FIG. 7 shows another embodiment which visually warns a consumer from both the top and side of the cup when the lid is ajar; and

FIG. 8 shows an alternate lid design which provides a narrow transparent band to view a colored cup rim through.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In greater detail FIG. 1 shows a cup 10 and drink lid 12. Cup 10 contains a rim 14 which may be color-coded a bright green, for example.

The corresponding drink lid 12 contains a translucent coupling channel 16 which snaps over and secures drink lid 12 to cup rim 14. Translucent coupling channel 16 contains a bright translucent yellow band or hue throughout it.

In operation, when drink lid 12 and cup rim 14 are securely snapped together, a bright green circle will be visible, on the top of the drink lid 12 letting the consumer know it is alright to “go” ahead and enjoy the beverage. However, if the drink lid 12 is slightly ajar, the unsecured lid portion will be yellow in color instead of green because the two surfaces are not in direct contact with each other. In other words, the translucent yellow hue will only turn green if it is securely snapped over the green cup rim 14.

Accordingly, any yellow in the circle will “warn” the consumer to secure the drink lid before drinking from the cup.

A small opening 17 is provided in drink lid 12 to sip a hot beverage through.

FIG. 2 schematically shows the lid's coupling channel 16 and cup rim 14 securely snapped together to form the visible green circle 18 on the top of drink lid 12.

FIG. 3 shows a different variation for a visual means to warn the consumer prior to drink spillage.

In greater detail, cup 20 contains a bold red rim 24.

Corresponding drink lid 26 contains a circular coupling channel 28 which is cloudy, yet translucent. This translucent property allows the bold red color to show through, at almost full strength, only when the two surfaces are properly mated together.

Accordingly, when drink lid 26 is securely snapped over the bold red cup rim 24, a bold red circle will be visible on the top of the drink lid 26. However, if the drink lid 26 is slightly ajar, the unsecured area will show as whitish or a light pink color because the opaqueness obscures the red colored rim when the two surfaces are separated.

Again, when the lid is securely attached, it will be visible to the consumer as a bold red circle on the top of the drink lid 26.

FIG. 4 is a top view showing drink lid 26 slightly ajar from cup rim 24.

Here area 30 is designated as light pink because it is not properly snapped to the bold red rim 24. Cross-hatched area 32 designates the bold red color because this portion of drink lid 26 is properly snapped over cup rim 24.

FIG. 5 is still another variation for a visual warning to avoid drink spillage.

In greater detail, cup 40 contains a rim 42 which has a crosshatch band 44 located just under the rim 42. Crosshatch band 44 is approximately 4 centimeters wide so that crosshatch band 44 will be visible only when the cup lid 46 is removed or ajar. Otherwise the crosshatch band 44 is completely covered by the lip 47 of cup lid 46.

FIG. 6 shows the cup 40 of FIG. 5 with cup lid 46 partially unsecured exposing crosshatch band 44. Accordingly, the consumer is visually warned to attach the lid more securely.

FIG. 7 shows a cup 50 which visually warns a consumer from both the top and side of the cup when the lid is ajar.

In greater detail, cup 50 contains a bold-colored rim 54 and, additionally, a side warning band 55 directly under rim 54. Side warning band 55 is approximately 4 centimeters wide so the only time it will be visible to the consumer is when the lid is removed or ajar. Otherwise, side warning band 55 is completely covered by the lip of drink lid 56. Side warning band 55 may be any bold solid color or pattern or design.

The corresponding drink lid 56 may be completely translucent and, once again, contains a circular coupling channel 58 which snaps over bold colored rim 54.

Accordingly, when drink lid 56 is securely snapped over the bold colored rim 54, a bold circle will be visible on the top of the drink lid 56 and the side warning band 55 will not be visible. However, if drink lid 56 is slightly ajar, the unsecured area will show as a whitish color in circular coupling channel 58 and a portion of the side warning band 55 will be exposed.

Accordingly, the consumer is visually warned from both the top and side to attach the lid more securely before enjoying the beverage.

FIG. 8 shows an alternate lid design.

In greater detail, drink lid 60, once again, contains a circular coupling channel 62 which snaps over a colored rim 70 on a cup 72. Drink lid 60 may be a solid color so that light cannot easily penetrate, white for example.

The crest of circular coupling channel 62 contains a narrow transparent band 64 which completely encircles coupling channel 62. Narrow transparent band 64 may be approximately 2 centimeters wide which doesn't allow any real visibility into it. Consequently, the only time a consumer will see colored rim 70 through transparent band 64 is when the circular coupling channel 62 is firmly snapped over and in direct contact with colored rim 70.

In operation, when a consumer sees a bold green colored circle, for example, on the top of the white drink lid 60, they know it is safe to enjoy their beverage without spillage.

Economically, this would be a very cost efficient invention to produce, but more importantly, it will prevent scalding accidents.

Those skilled in the art will readily perceive other changes and modifications which may be made in the inventive cups and lids and perceive new and different uses for the inventive structures.

For example, components of the disclosed cups and lids maybe interchanged with each other and substituted for each other without departing from this invention. Also, all colors, combinations of colors and hues, cup patterns, bands and designs could be changed and interchanged without departing from the scope of this invention.

Therefore, the appended claims are to be construed broadly enough to cover all equivalent structures falling within the scope and spirit of this invention. 

We claim:
 1. The combination of a beverage cup and corresponding separate lid that have visual means for warning a consumer when said corresponding lid is ajar in order to prevent scalding accidents and messy spills; additionally, providing a small opening in said corresponding lid to drink beverage through, whereby, the consumer is visibly aware prior to taking the first sip of beverage whether or not said corresponding lid is ajar, visual warning means comprising a colored or patterned portion positioned at or near the top of said beverage cup that functions as a warning only when used in combination with said corresponding lid, whereby, said combination visually relays the attachment status of said corresponding lid to the consumer.
 2. The cup and lid of claim 1, wherein said visual means for warning a consumer is by providing translucent color-coding in the circular coupling channel on said corresponding lid.
 3. The cup and lid of claim 2, wherein said cup contains a colored rim, whereby, when said circular coupling channel is snapped over said colored rim, a circle of uniform color will be visible to the consumer on the top of said corresponding lid, thereby, letting the consumer know it is safe to enjoy their beverage.
 4. The cup and lid of claim 1, wherein said visual means for warning a consumer is by providing a colored rim on said cup.
 5. The cup and lid of claim 4, wherein said lid is cloudy, yet translucent, and the rim of said cup is colored, whereby, the colored cup rim will be fully visible to the consumer only when the lid's circular coupling channel is securely snapped over said colored cup rim.
 6. The cup and lid of claim 1, wherein said visual means for warning a consumer is by providing a narrow area of color under the rim of said cup.
 7. The cup and lid of claim 1, wherein said visual means for warning a consumer is by providing a narrow area of pattern under the rim of said cup.
 8. The cup and lid of claim 1, wherein said lid is basically light impermeable except for a narrow transparent band on a the crest portion of the circular coupling channel which snaps over the colored rim of said cup.
 9. The process of providing beverage cups and beverage lids that visibly warn the consumer when the cup's lid is ajar; comprising the following steps of: a. providing a color-coded rim on a cup, b. snapping a corresponding beverage lid over the color-coded rim on said cup, c. providing said cup with a small opening to drink a beverage through; d. utilizing the above steps, whereby, a consumer will visibly see a full circle of one consistent color on the top of said beverage lid, if said beverage lid is securely attached.
 10. The combination of a beverage container and a separate corresponding lid, wherein said combination has a means to visibly warn an unsuspecting consumer when the lid to said beverage container is ajar, visual warning means comprising providing a circular coupling channel on said lid which forms a circle of uniform color when said lid is firmly attached to the rim of said beverage container and said circular coupling channel forming a circle of non-uniform color and shade when said lid is ajar, whereby, a consumer visually knows whether the cup's lid is secure or ajar. 